Candidate Says Saakashvili Would Be Jailed If She Won Georgian Presidency

Nino Burjanadze (file photo)

Georgian presidential candidate Nino Burjanadze says that incumbent President Mikheil Saakashvili would be arrested if she were elected.

The former parliamentary speaker and leader of the opposition Democratic Movement party made the comment at a news conference in Tbilisi on July 10.

She said if she won the presidential race in October, investigations would be launched immediately to prove Saakashvili's United National Movement party was "a criminal organization." She added that Saakashvili himself "would be arrested first."

Last month, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili told journalists that he would "not exclude" the possibility that Saakashvili could be arrested after leaving office.

Several of Saakashvili's allies, including former Prime Minister Ivane Merabishvili, who is secretary-general of Saakashvili's party, have been arrested and charged with crimes since Ivanishvili's Georgian Dream coalition won parliamentary elections in October.

Based on reporting by apsny.ge and Interfax